


Dating the Dragon.  1/1.

by punky_96



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 04:38:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12449865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punky_96/pseuds/punky_96
Summary: Re-Post from LJ.DuWinter wanted something like Miranda believing Andy is spoken for, but aware of their chemistry, decides to publicly pursue another woman to get Andy’s attention.





	Dating the Dragon.  1/1.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DuWinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DuWinter/gifts).



**Title** : Dating the Dragon. 1/1.  
 **Characters** : Miranda/Lily with eventual Miranda/Andy  
 **Word Count** : 7394  
 **Rating** : PG  
 **Prompt** : DuWinter wanted something like Miranda believing Andy is spoken for, but aware of their chemistry, decides to publicly pursue another woman to get Andy’s attention.  
 **Summary** : Used to be that Lily didn’t understand, however now she gets it. I didn’t quite hit the prompt, but I got near it :)  
 **Beta** : [](https://jah728.livejournal.com/profile)[ **jah728**](https://jah728.livejournal.com/)  Gosh.  How many ways can I say that you rock?  You so do, bb!!!  
 **Disclaimer:**  standard disclaimer on my fic community and my LJ page  
 **A/N** : I have no idea if there is a Zenith Gallery in real life, but there are a few called Highlight which was similar to Zenith. I read somewhere that Williamsburg has some up and coming art scene kind of stuff happening there, but I don’t have any concept of where that is or what that would really mean. The Coffee Cup Café is actually in Long Beach, CA, but it really does have an amazingly bad for you delicious mashed potato omellette.  
  
  
 _ **Dating the Dragon. Part 1/1.**_  
  
‘Happening.’ Lily smirked to herself as she surveyed her artistic little kingdom. The guestbook showed more names tonight than any other night since she began hosting the gallery openings. They were selling paintings right and left and she had to pat herself on the back as she stepped forward to pull another bottle of wine from the small rack in the back. The owner had been so stingy with evening treats when she arrived, but after six months of nothing but increases in visitations and sales, Lily was redeemed in her contentious move to pour more alcohol at these little soirees. Twisting the corkscrew down, Lily tucked the bottle in the crook of her arm as she began to pull. Adding a little extra sway to her hips as she returned to the main room, Lily congratulated herself on a ‘job well done.’ Coming around the corner, Lily nearly dropped the bottle on her foot. Stepping through the doorway, wrapped in an elegant fur coat, was the silver haired shapely form of none other than Miranda Priestly.  
  
Lily found that her jaw seemed to be sadly malfunctioning as her brain tried to form possible greetings for the woman, whom she despised the previous two years and now needed to suck up to as she was a potential customer and a famous patron of the arts. The crowd noticed the newest arrival, but did not sway away or rush up like the sycophants her former friend used to describe at events of the rich and famous. Lily considered that at such a small gallery people may not have even known who she was, or perhaps considered that if the rich and famous were slumming it, then they wanted their privacy. Forcing her jaw to close, Lily felt tendrils of curiosity forming within her about what would bring the woman this far out of her usual hunting grounds.  
  
Watching the rare silver haired specimen in the rank and file of youthful yuppies, Lily frowned when she could not see her around a corner. Pursing out her lower lip, Lily felt her feet following the woman while her mind still swirled on why she even gave a damn.  
  
Unable to stop in time, Lily found herself stepping right into the aura that the socialite exuded. Her hand flew to her chest as sparkling blue eyes turned on her and her heart somersaulted in her chest as the woman greeted her warmly. “Lilian.” Her eyes flashed with an unknown fire, before she reached out to take Lily’s hand from her beating chest. “So nice to meet you.” When those ruby red lips pressed against the warm caramel of her hand, Lily thought that maybe that last glass of wine had crossed the demarcation of ‘one too many.’  
  
“M-M-Miranda.” Blushing at her unusual stuttering, Lily greeted the other woman and then pulled her hand slowly away marveling at the tingling sensation on one side from the other woman’s lips and on the other side from the gentle slide of her fingers against her palm.  
  
Motioning around the gallery, Miranda flashed a brilliant smile at the beautiful woman in front of her. “What a delightful gallery.” Looking at the watercolor in front of her, Miranda stepped closer and murmured. “This just draws you in and makes you want to be there looking at dawn with your lover.” Reaching out as if she was going to touch the canvas, the woman let her hand fall short. Looking at Lily shyly, Miranda continued, “Don’t you think?”  
  
Lily felt a compelling desire to reach out and touch the other woman, yet like her counterpart her arm fell short of its destination. “I.” She started only to find her throat dry and her words stop. Swallowing hard, but refusing to break the eye contact between them Lily smiled back and answered simply, “Yes.”  
  
Stepping closer to the dark skinned woman, Miranda let her eyes wander from Lily’s eyes to her lips and back before making her offer. “I’ll take this watercolor, if you’ll have dinner with me tomorrow night.”  
  
*** *** ***  
  
 _ **Sightings…**  
  
Fashion Editor Miranda Priestly attending small art opening at Zenith Gallery in Williamsburg… Adrian Grenier greeting photographer Murad Osmann at a dinner prepared by Hakkasan chef Ho Chee Boon at the Versace Mansion in Miami…_  
  
Andrea set the paper down trying not to frown. She wasn’t sure why, but seeing Miranda’s name along with the name of her former friend Lily’s Gallery gave her pause. Shaking her head a little and taking a sip of her coffee, the brunette forced herself to stand and finish getting ready—which including throwing the paper in the recycle bin. It was much too early to entertain thoughts of her Icarus’ flying hopes of the first or the sad cupcake of disappointment that went along with her former friend. She refused to even contemplate the two of them together in any sentence let alone speculate on how Lily handled herself and whether or not the dragon had breathed fire.  
  
It had taken many months to find her feet after leaving Runway, yet Andrea had learned persistence and keeping her head up from the woman who personified them most in the world, so she was eventually successful. Fact checking, editing, and minor fill in writing had eventually led to obits and local sports which was followed by local fluff until now when she was beginning to write articles with her own by-line. Andrea found it ironic that once she would have attended that very same opening to support Lily, or even as Miranda’s assistant, and now she could have been the reporter for Page 6 that saw them there together.  
  
Pulling her stockings up to her thighs, Andrea fastened them and turned to pull her skirt from the hanger. She was the best-dressed cub reporter that the Mirror had ever seen, but it just felt right to take the time and care in her appearance after so many months of being forced into it. Her heels were less fierce now and she kept a pair of clogs under her desk for the really long days, yet she loved the feel of the high quality fabrics sliding against her skin or swishing against her stockings. Like so many other things from her time at Runway, Andrea found it hard to let go.  
  
Trying not to poke herself in the eye with the eyeliner, Andrea refused to think of how radiant Miranda looked in the picture next to a smiling Lily who seemed to be glowing at her most recent Gallery Opening. Making quick work of her eye shadow and the mascara, Andrea threw them into the tray on her bathroom counter and rushed out of the apartment. She didn’t have time to dwell and her mind knew it even if her heart whined a bit.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
 _ **Page 6  
  
Dating the Dragon?**  
  
Runway’s Miranda Priestly re-adjusts to single life with Zenith gallery curator Lily Goodwin. Perhaps last week’s art visit was a little something more? They were seen sharing a meal at Nobu. Who knew the dragon could smile? Guess the ink is dry on those divorce papers and the dragon can breathe fire once more._  
  
Andrea actually spit coffee onto the paper when she read that one. It hit the picture of the two women smiling in the luxurious décor of the Tribeca restaurant and dribbled down the curve of the paper until it dripped onto the bare upper thighs of the shocked brunette. Jumping up and nearly swinging her entire drink in an arc around the kitchenette, Andrea barely escaped total catastrophe. Apparently learning to walk in those super stilty high heels really was a life skill, because even though she was trying to escape herself like a wet cat trying to get out of its skin, Andrea managed to not fall and not make more of a mess than that initial spurted sip. The paper was damaged but it was definitely going into the recycle bin at once, so Andrea told herself that it didn’t matter. With a wet paper towel on her thigh as much to soothe as to cleanse, Andrea made her way into her room to get ready. The faster she got away from that paper and that mini-story on Page 6 the better.  
  
If she was reading it right, and reading really was one of her better skills, then it sounded a lot like a single Miranda Priestly was out on a date to the very fancy Nobu restaurant with none other than her former friend and gallery curator Lily Goodwin. Dragon dates former friend—her mind could not resist creating the pithy headline in her head even if she was trying very hard to tell it to shut the hell up.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The ringing of the phone drew Andrea up from the murky depths of late morning slumbers and she peeled the blankets back from over her head as her hand reached out knocking books and trinkets off her night stand as she pawed blindly for the phone. It stopped ringing as she found it and with a huff she pulled her arm back into her cotton cave. It was still warm there and she thought she could still chase the tail of sleep if she settled.  
  
Just as she felt her muscles relaxing into that last staging ground before somnolence, the ring tone twertled its call once again. This time her hand shot out from the blanket with precision sucking the offensive device into the cotton cave where it was chill against her ear. If the call wasn’t too long perhaps she could snuggle with it for a while.  
  
“Andy? Hey, are you there?” Sleepily the brunette pulled the phone from the side of her face and looked at it. Sure enough the name on the caller ID matched the voice—so either she was dreaming or her long lost friend had decided to call her.  
  
Sighing, she wearily interrupted Lily’s monologue of wonder on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I’m here, Lily.” Yawning, Andrea felt her ears adjust and a tear get squeezed out of her eye. “What’s going on?” Her sluggish brain smacked itself as it registered the fact that she had not spoken to Lily since Nate left for Boston and there could be any number of things for Lily to be calling about—most of which she really truly did not want to know about.  
  
The pause on the other end of the line had Andrea pulling it away to look at the screen again. She even tapped it with her fingernail. It was still connected so the brunette shrugged and held it to her ear again. The worst that would happen would be that she would fall asleep again and that really wasn’t so bad. At least that’s what she told herself as she settled her head back against the pillow.  
  
“Uh. Well,” Lily started and swallowed loud enough that Andrea instinctively did as well. “Can we meet in person?” Lily must have been frowning or wriggling in her seat somewhere. “Just this is so awkward, Andy, and I need to talk to you.” She swallowed again and then added in the quietest voice she had ever heard her fierce former friend use, “I’m really sorry, Andy.”  
  
Sticking her head up out of her cotton cocoon and sighing, Andrea blew her bangs from her face. Her arms shot up on either side of her head as she sat up practically wrapped like a burrito in her blankets. Shaking her head to wake up, Andrea looked at the phone again to see that this was still a real conversation happening. “Um. Yeah, okay. When and where?”  
  
Lily seemed to scratch her head and look at the time. “Coffee Cup Café? In an hour?” Her suggestions tilted up at the end making them questions.  
  
Just glad that Lily had not picked Nate’s old restaurant Bubby Pie Co. in Tribeca. It would be odd enough seeing her old friend, they didn’t have to go to the group’s old hang out. The Coffee Cup was neutral enough in that the girls had only ever met there a few times without the boys on lazy Sunday mornings rather like this one. Not really wanting to come up with any other ideas and already tasting the horrifyingly over-caloried mashed potato omellette, Andrea nodded and then said into the phone, “Yeah. Sure.”  
  
The excitement undeniable in her voice, Lily practically squealed which was entirely not okay given Andrea’s state of wakefulness. “Really? Oh, I’ll see you there. Thanks, Andy.” She gushed and then hung up the phone before Andrea could scold her for the ear piercing or the oddity of the call in general.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
The art was once again a new selection of photography and Andrea found herself wishing that she could buy a piece. Maybe in another couple of years, she’d be able to really swing it unlike now when she’d have to give up a few meals or give up caffeine for a couple of months to make it happen. The windows let in the cold air along the front of the café, but they also let in the unusual winter sunlight for which Andrea was thankful. It always helped her rise to full awareness when she could tell it was day and even turn her face to soak up the sun. She wondered for the millionth time just why it was that Nate, Doug, and Lily all shared the same dream as herself to move to New York City. It might have been hard to leave them all behind, but it wasn’t like her relationship or her friendships had survived anyway. Perhaps if she had gone to Stanford then she’d still have them as long distance friends, instead of the loneliness that she just kept trying and trying to fight here in the big apple. Californians were friendly and she would bet that there were quirky little art café’s all over the coast.  
  
Lily’s arrival next to her on the cracked pleather of the waiting bench broke her train of thoughts and she was forced back into the here and now. “Hey.” Lily said shyly as she stuffed her gloves into her jacket pockets.  
  
“Hello yourself.” Andrea said with an odd smirk over how awkward they were. “I’ll tell them we’re both here now.” She stood and approached the cashier. After a few words she turned toward Lily and waved for her to follow them over to the corner table next to the window.  
  
“Coffee?” The same waitress from the last time they had been there asked in her usual gruff way.  
  
Andrea flipped her mug right side up and selected, “Mac Nut please.” The waitress beamed at her and poured.  
  
Offering her mug as well, Lily asked for the same. “I’ll give you a couple of minutes.” The waitress said as she turned away from the table to bustle around the packed place.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Quick service helped them to get through the awkwardness of apologies and lost time. Andrea wasn’t sure she would truly re-kindle the friendship, however she could not deny the closure that Lily’s declaration of peace brought her. It was ironic that the problem Andrea had with Lily turned out to be her association with Miranda Priestly. Despite the bite size headlines in Page 6 and the photos of them together, Andrea had refused to connect the dots between the two women. She had steadfastly told herself it was not what it could be read into being. Lily’s words made that deliberate denial quite difficult to hold onto.  
  
“I understand now, Andy.” Lily shook her head with her mini-dreds shaking slightly with the motion. “Miranda Priestly has this presence, this aura about her.” Turning her coffee cup in a circle, Lily looked down at the last couple of sips left in the ceramic. The blush on her cheeks made Andrea’s hands flex under the table on her lap. “I never understood what you saw in her.” Her words came out on a whisper and in a rush. “I get that she utterly draws you in until there is nothing else in the world.”  
  
Needing to stop the words before the blood started running out of her ears, Andrea reached out her hand to her estranged friend and just asked the question that would turn the knife in her back. “Are you with her, Lily?”  
  
Looking up into Andrea’s darkened brown eyes, Lily’s own eyes widened as she realized a few things all at once. “Oh, Andy, I’m so sorry.” She pulled her hand out from under Andrea’s to hold in her own. “I didn’t realize.” Frowning when Andrea pulled her hand away, Lily continued. “I don’t even know how it happened.”  
  
Breathing in deep and hoping that she could get through this conversation with her head still held high, Andrea was thankful that the bill had already been paid and they were just lingering. “So it’s true?” Andrea was proud that her voice didn’t wobble. Only her eyes had given her away and she could take some cold comfort from that at least.  
  
“We’ve been out a few times, but nothing has happened.” Lily seemed truly sad as the words left her mouth.  
  
Andrea refused to contemplate if she was sad for unwittingly dating the woman she still had feelings for or whether she was sad that nothing had happened. With an inward eye roll, she heard the long lost voice of Christian Thompson in her mind, ‘tres, tres desolee.’ Then she thought with all the irony floating around that Nate would really get a kick out of this whole conversation. In a quiet voice that she wasn’t sure even got the words out, Andrea asked her companion, “Is that why you contacted me, Lily?”  
  
Nodding slowly, Lily blinked away the tears that had welled up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry for judging you the way that I did when you worked for her.” Sniffling a bit, Lily continued, “I wanted you to know that I know I was wrong and that I get it now.” Reaching for her mug, Lily tossed back the last of her coffee. “I’m so confused, Andy.” Sighing, Lily shook her head resigned to the fact that she had hurt her former friend even more when she had truly only wanted to apologize and ask some innocent questions. “I should go. I’m sorry.”  
  
Lily scooted toward the edge of the booth when Andrea’s hand grabbed her wrist like a vice grip. “Don’t you dare run away.” Andrea’s voice was low and menacing. “I never ran from you, so don’t you dare run from me.” Releasing her wrist when she saw Lily settled back into the booth, Andrea continued. “We may never see each other again after this, so ask or say whatever it is that you wanted to in the first place.” Checking to see that there was still coffee in her cup, Andrea continued with a wry smirk, “I have to say I’m curious despite myself.”  
  
Horrified at how the conversation turned out, Lily waved to the waitress. She needed the distraction of another cup if she was going to do this after understanding just what a minefield of emotions she had walked into. Never before had Andrea used that tone or physically held someone in place like that. It reminded her of the silver haired woman she had recently begun to spend time with. “I thought I knew a lot about Miranda Priestly, especially after hanging out with you and Doug while you were at Runway. Obviously I didn’t know a damn thing.” Lily shrugged. “I guess I am wondering what the hell this is for her and if you had any insights.” At Andrea’s raised eyebrow that was so like the one Miranda would use, Lily knew she needed to specify and quickly too. “I mean were there ever any rumors about her dating women before? Was she affectionate with her husband?” Wrapping her hands around the coffee mug once more, Lily fought off the urge to shake her head. “I don’t understand what she’s doing with me. It’s a lot like dating, but then we’re not doing all the dating things.” Lily looked at Andrea then, hoping that she had some kind of insight and that she would share it with her. Admittedly it was a long shot, but it was the only source of information she had about Miranda Priestly other than the woman herself.  
  
Taking a sip and then another sip of her coffee, Andrea pondered what she was willing to share with the woman across from her. There was no way to deny that the thought of Lily having a real chance with Miranda hurt like hell, but if she was to have a real chance, Andrea’s answers might make a difference. It couldn’t be easy to date the dragon. Andrea had spent enough time imagining just that very thing after all—she was familiar with the difficulties in reading emotions and intentions from the other woman as well as getting the other woman to communicate any clearer than she had at Runway. Oh, she had seen glimmers of the woman, but she knew they were just that. To really get to know the real woman, well that would be an effort worthy of Hercules.  
  
“There were whispers about Miranda and other women in the past, usually fashion connected in some way: a model here and a photographer there.” Andrea waved her hand to indicate the passing fancy of these tales as well as the distance they were in the past. “No real details, no scandalous stories, and never when she was married.” Andrea took another deep sip of her coffee and then set the mug down and pushed it away from her. “I never saw any affection from her toward her husband. I only ever saw the anger between them the one time by accident. From the way people talked at Runway I think that the marriages were primarily about image and not being swept away with love. The only affection I saw from her was directed at the twins.” Andrea fixed Lily with her eyes and asked a question, “If it’s dating have you held hands, kissed?”  
  
Lily held her hands out as if in surrender. “Held hands yes, kissed just a peck on the lips goodnight.” Wrapping her hands around her coffee mug once more, Lily asked, “Do you think she’s just like crazy old fashioned?”  
  
Andrea leaned back in her chair. She had not considered what dating rules Miranda operated under even in all of her extensive daydreaming. “What makes you think it’s dating instead of business?” When Lily’s jaw dropped, Andrea waved her off. “I don’t mean she’s using you.” She reassured. “It is doing wonders for your gallery, right? So could there be an art connection of some kind that she’s working? I mean your association could be a win-win for the both of you. She’s constantly under attack at Runway, perhaps she’s maneuvering to outsmart that weasel Irv Ravitz. Has she mentioned him?” From Lily’s look, Andrea knew that Miranda had not mentioned him and she couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of smugness that in many ways, Andrea still knew Miranda better than Lily did.  
  
Her mouth opening and closing in wonder at the woman sharing the booth with her, Lily realized that she knew as much about Andrea Sachs as she knew about Miranda Priestly. She felt bad all over again for how she had judged the brunette. “She’s, well, she’s never mentioned anything about business.” Lily took a sip from her mug and then settled her cup down. Not looking at the other woman, Lily stumbled forward. “She sends flowers, and um, we did the horse drawn carriage ride in Central Park, then the theatre, and dinners out as I’m sure you’ve read by now. It’s like she’s pulling all the stops, but then it’s like no go on the physical.” Looking up at Andrea finally, Lily sighed out her frustration, “I don’t get it.”  
  
Fluffing her bangs to buy a few seconds, Andrea sucked her teeth with a clicking sort of sound and then closed her eyes. “I studied the woman for months. She rarely did things on her own like sending flowers or going to a gallery alone.” Bringing her hand up to the table’s edge, Andrea thumped her fingers along the dinged wood of the tabletop. “Do you.” Andrea shook her head and tried again, “Do you like her, love her, want her?” She rolled her head forward and looked hard into Lily’s eyes. “If you don’t, then just see where it goes.”  
  
Uncertainly leaning forward, Lily asked, “And if I do?”  
  
Sucking in a lungful of air, Andrea held it as she continued to stare down Lily. Her coach used to tell her that she ‘needed a captain on the field.’ Andrea thought that the bile she had to swallow down now was worse than before the first whistle of the championship game her senior year at Northwestern. “If you do, then I have to see you together.”  
  
Lily’s jaw dropped, “What?”  
  
Tilting her head, Andrea spoke as if explaining to a small difficult child, “You want to know where Miranda is coming from? Then I need to see her to read her. That’s how it was when I worked for her.” Shrugging off the whole discussion, Andrea flipped her hands palm up dismissively. “Or you can just see where it goes on your own.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Andrea fixed Lily with a look that clearly said, ‘ _It’s not like helping you helps me_.’  
  
Uncertain, Lily frowned. “How would we?”  
  
Andrea sighed knowing that this was going to hurt her heart. “The gallery, unless you’re going to Nigel’s party next week.”  
  
Lily reached for Andrea’s hand only to fall short and pull away. “This is hurting you.” She blinked back the tears welling in her eyes at the obvious pain she was causing someone she always cared about and had deeply hurt with her judgments and rejections.  
  
Uncertain how she was able to keep her own composure, Andrea refused to admit she had learned it from the woman looming over the both of them like an elephant in the room. “Maybe it will be like pulling the Band-Aid off and I’ll be able to move on.” Andrea nodded then and stood in a move too swift for Lily to stop her. “You have my number text me when and where.”  
  
Lily watched her go, at a loss for words and more conflicted than she had been when she called her two hours ago.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
“Don’t you look ravishing.” Nigel greeted his young friend with a kiss on the cheek and a full fashion look over from head to toe. “Fit for royalty.” He hummed as he circled around his early arriving guest. “Is this about the Queen, hmmm?”  
  
Andrea knew she looked good in the deep purple satin and flocking dress that wrapped around her from just above her breasts and only down to just above her knees. Her little black heels and onyx heart pendant on a black ribbon completed the outfit and she knew with her smoky eyes and up do that she had nailed the look she was going for. Nigel didn’t whistle often or give out compliments about royalty. Too bad it was on the night she’d be cleaving her heart in two while seeing whether Lily had a real shot or not. “Have you talked to her, Nigel? Is she serious about this girl?”  
  
Nigel started to answer and then questioned himself and stopped. He lead the way into the kitchen knowing that they both would need a drink before going down this road. “Pick your poison.” He said as he pointed at the various bottles set out on the counter ready for them. “I’m going for the Johnny Walker.” Looking at her, he held out a glass like his own in question.  
  
“Casks Edition?” She teased him.  
  
Turning back to her with both glasses, he shook his head at her. “Of course.” He replied with exaggerated derisiveness. She knew he didn’t mess around when it came to whiskey.  
  
Letting her pour, he looked her face over. “She hasn’t said a word.” Taking his glass from her hand, he narrowed his eyes at her. “You knew that.” Looking at the amber liquid in his glass he frowned. Turning he used the tongs to pull a ball of ice out and into his glass. Tilting his head at her, he let one slip into hers as well. “You said ‘ _this girl_ ’. Why?” He stood straight looking at her then as if she were as devilish as their dear dragon in Prada. “Her name has been plastered all over. You refused to use her name.”  
  
Andrea shifted her glass from side to side watching the ice ball float hither and thither. “I moved to the City with Nate, Doug and Lily.” Slightly amused in a dark hearted way, Andrea watched as his eyebrows rose and fell with dawning realizations. “When I chose my job,” she lowered her gaze back to her glass and took a sip before continuing. “When I chose Miranda over Nate, they broke up with me too.” Andrea shrugged. “Then out of the blue after weeks of Page 6 headlines, she calls me all googley eyed about the silver haired lady. Apparently while she’s pulled out all the stops toward dating—they haven’t even headed near first base.” Andrea clinked her glass against Nigel’s as she explained the final piece of the puzzle, “She’s confused and quite frankly so am I. So I told her I could figure it out if I saw them together.”  
  
Nigel’s eyes went round, his mouth made a perfect circle and he clearly was trying to not smile. “It’s gonna be some party.” Unable to fight it anymore, Nigel laughed out loud and then clinked his glass against Andrea’s. They caught eyes and laughed together before taking a few hearty sips in a row. He did not stop her when she refilled both of their glasses. “You can stay here tonight if you need to, or I can take you home if you need me.” He said seriously once they were able to breath properly again.  
  
Waving him off, Andrea denied the potential pain heading her way. “It’ll be like pulling off a Band Aid.”  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Tucked into the chair next to the sofa, Andrea found herself having a great time with their host as well as Emily and Serena. It had been quite some time since they had all gone out together so the girls were telling the story of how they finally found their way past their insecurities and into love. They glowed and Andrea raised her glass to them in a toast. Laughing as they all took in her raucous words, the group savored the moment.  
  
The door opened and as the dutiful host, Nigel stood preparing to greet the new comers. A stunning African American woman he had not met in person before slipped into the living room with wide eyes taking in the space around her. Behind the newcomer stood the tall, serene form of the silver haired woman that in some way had shaped each of their lives. They continued forward letting the door snick closed behind them as they slipped off their coats. Springing into action, Nigel rushed to greet them. “Miranda good to see you.” He air kissed her cheek as he turned to the other woman, “You must be Lilian.” He took her hand to shake it.  
  
Smiling widely with her eyes sparkling she corrected him, “Only Miranda calls me Lilian. Please, call me, Lily.” Looking around the space she took in the room full of beautiful people half paying attention to them and half pretending not to be. Andrea stood near a beautiful couple of women that had Lily feeling slightly self-conscious. Seeing her helped to settle her nerves, but only a little—it wasn’t as if they were bosom buddies these days.  
  
“Let me take your coats.” Nigel offered with outstretched arms.  
  
As he bundled them off to add to the pile on his bed, he hoped that the claws would not be drawn anytime soon. Andrea had walked away, but she had so far lived to tell the tale. He hoped that this visitation would not raise the dragon’s fire. Then he pondered the reason why she was here in the first place and he just hoped that one way or the other his friend would once again be able to walk away unscathed. Perhaps her heart would be bent a little bit more, but if Miranda was dating Lily for real, then maybe she could still the dragon’s hand. Sucking in a breath, he even dared to hope that if Miranda wasn’t really after Lily that maybe, just maybe, she was somehow after Andrea—as that thought clicked in his brain he rushed out to the living room.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
Andrea and Nigel had long ago worked out a system where they could communicate through their looks and body language. They had not needed to do so for over a year, yet now they fell back into it as if they had never stopped. Miranda and Lily sat on the couch making small talk with Emily and Serena. Lily was fascinated with Miranda’s former first assistant and the beauty editor. Andrea stayed relatively quiet except to defend the occasional barb from one of the others about her initial days at Runway as the ugly duckling. Even Nigel recounted that first day when he had smelled onion bagel and brought her those shoes.  
  
Standing and taking a twirl around in her stunning outfit, Andrea pointed her finger at him, “I’ve still got it, Nigel.”  
  
When Miranda purred over her drink, “That you do.” Andrea and Nigel’s eyes met and held. No words were needed over that.  
  
It was hard to gloss over that compliment so strong from Miranda, but Nigel soldiered on as he stood lifting his glass to her and heartily proclaiming, “You can teach an old dog new tricks.”  
  
Bending down Andrea scooped up her drink and held it aloft in a salute to Nigel.  
  
After counting several long minutes, Andrea excused herself and mingled around the room until she slipped into the kitchen once again to refill her drink. Resting back against the counter, Andrea couldn’t stop her heart from its wild staccato rhythm in her heart. Pulling off this Band-Aid seemed to be tantamount to pulling out a series of stiches before they were ready to be pulled and then pouring her carefully crafted whiskey right into the wound. She didn’t know what Miranda was up to, but she was not into Lily and that somehow hurt her own heart even more than if Miranda had been in love with her former friend. Swirling the ice ball in her glass, Andrea breathed in as she realized why—there was no closure here, nothing for her to feel final about.  
  
“Hey girl.” Lily greeted as she rounded the corner into the kitchen too. “Thought I’d find you here.” She smiled at her friend and then held her glass out for a refill.  
  
Andrea returned the pleasant greeting and poured. They had often ended up in the kitchen at parties in college. It was warmer than going outside and usually held the dual attractions of drinks and food. “You know me so well.” Andrea murmured as she turned and set her glass on the counter.  
  
Raising her eyebrows, Lily said, “Yeah.” Settling next to her against the counter, she took a drink from her glass wincing as the fire of the amber liquid coated her throat. “What was that?” She waved her hand back toward the living room.  
  
Sighing, Andrea shook her head. “I wish I knew, Lils. I wish I knew.”  
  
Knowing that her friend was hurting as much as she thought she was going to be, Lily followed her earlier question, “Well, what do you know?”  
  
Taking Lily’s hand in hers, Andrea squeezed and then let go. “I had high hopes when you came in, Lils. She had her hand on the small of your back. She stayed close to you. She was holding your hand as you entered the room.”  
  
Lily nodded knowing that those were all good signs that she had taken comfort in as well. “And?”  
  
Andrea shifted so that she was leaning against the counter perpendicular to Lily and could look at her companion. “She didn’t sit close on the couch.”  
  
Lily took a sip of her drink as Andrea spoke and then pulled her own Band-Aid off. “She drooled over your little fashion twirl.”  
  
Wincing at Lily knowing that this was hurting her, Andrea tried to communicate her sadness across to her. “I’m sorry.” She told the other woman.  
  
Giving a half-hearted shrug Lily replied, “You said you’d be able to tell if you saw us together.” Wiping at her eyes, Lily whimpered a bit at the whole situation. “You didn’t know, did you?” Her watery deep brown eyes looked intently at Andrea’s knowing that the other woman wouldn’t lie to her.  
  
“Know what?” Miranda’s quiet voice announced her presence to the two women.  
  
Stepping right up to Miranda, Lily looked her right in the eye. “Why are you with me?”  
  
Miranda blinked looking from Lilian to Andrea and back. “You are a beautiful woman who shares many of my interests.”  
  
Lily turned back to look at Andrea and then faced the blue eyed devil down. “I never understood what you had over her when she worked for you, but I get it now.” Shaking her head, Lily blinked away the tears not wishing any more to fall. “Wow. I do get it. You are all the things I thought you were and so much more—beautiful, charming, alluring, funny even.” Lily reached up and cupped Miranda’s cheek in her palm. “It was fun while it lasted.” She let her eyes flick down toward Miranda’s lips and then back to her eyes as she leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss on her lips. As she pulled back, Lily looked her dead in the eye and sternly told her. “Quit wasting time and get the girl you really want.” Turning around to Andrea, she said, “I’ll call you.” Stepping around the woman who had dazzled her for an all too brief time, Lily made her way toward the room she had seen Nigel stash their coats in.  
  
*** *** ***  
  
For many long moments the two women just stood in the kitchen looking each other over almost re-acquainting themselves although they had never been like this before. It had been over a year since Paris, since tears over men they didn’t truly love left them, and everything else that seemed to compound into that one week. Yet it felt right to be alone looking at each other and saying so much with their eyes.  
  
“Andrea.” Her name elongated in just that way made the corners of Andrea’s mouth curl up in response.  
  
Not moving from where she stood, because she didn’t trust herself. Andrea greeted the beautiful woman who had haunted her for over a year, “Miranda.”  
  
“Will she be okay?” Miranda asked, concern coloring her voice.  
  
Sadly thinking of her friend going through what she had, Andrea nodded her head, “Yeah, she will be. You’re hard to get over though.”  
  
Stepping closer to the brunette, Miranda didn’t dare touch her. Instead she settled against the counter where Lily had been minutes before. “I don’t know what to say.” She admitted in a sigh.  
  
“Why’d you do it?” When Miranda looked up at her, Andrea expanded her question. “I mean why did you pursue her, you had to know we were friends?” Anger flashing in her eyes at just how bad that sounded, Andrea asked the next terrible question in the line. “Did you pursue her to get to me?”  
  
Looking up with shocked blue eyes, Miranda shook her head. “No, no. I initially met Lilian in order to find out about you, but then she was quite beautiful.” Closing her jaw, Miranda almost pursed her lips as she tried to order her thoughts. “Did you know that Nigel and Emily refuse to give me information about you?” Flipping out a frustrated hand, Miranda waved them away as if they too had been in the kitchen. “I tried to get information on you from Lily, but I never could ask her and we were having such a good time. I figured that you had followed your chef to Boston and that was that.” Miranda sighed her defeat.  
  
Reaching for her drinking glass, Andrea clinked the ice ball around in the almost empty glass. “You mean to tell me that you wanted to spy on me, but weren’t having any luck and then you met Lily because of your spying mission and you liked her enough that you decided to date her since I was unavailable?”  
  
Her eyes flaring with a desperate hope, Miranda gave a high-pitched stuttering reply of, “Yeeessss?” Her tone turned it up at the end into a question.  
  
Shaking her head, Andrea set her glass back on the counter. “What a mess, Miranda Priestly. What a mess you’ve created.” Edging closer but still not touching the other woman in any way, Andrea asked her, “You couldn’t have called me? You didn’t see my name in the Mirror?” Watching as the realizations flashed like little explosions in her mind, Andrea smiled at the other woman. For a fashion super star and a Machiavellian planner, Miranda Priestly sometimes did not see the forest for the trees—it was adorable. “Are you romantically interested in me, Miranda Priestly?” Only able to nod, the silver haired woman watched the brunette in fascination. “And you want to kiss me right now?” Andrea followed up in a teasing voice now that she knew everything that she needed to know.  
  
Licking her lips, Miranda replied vocally this time, “Yes and yes.” Her eyes lingering on the plump ruby red lips of her companion, Miranda missed the mischievous look in the other woman’s eyes.  
  
Reaching up and cupping Miranda’s cheek, Andrea put her thumb over Miranda’s lips. “Then tomorrow you are going to apologize to Lily in a grand fashion and the next day you are going to call and ask me out on a date.” Seeing the questioning look of disappointment mixed with hope, Andrea added, “We are going to do this right, Miranda Priestly. No more making messes in our lives.” With a nod, Andrea waited with baited breath for the other woman to agree with her.  
  
Reaching up and taking Andrea’s hand in her own, Miranda kissed the back of her hand and then the knuckles on each finger. “And are you romantically interested in me, Andrea Sachs? And you wish we could kiss right now?” Miranda paused letting their joined hands fall between them and waiting for Andrea’s head nod. “Then you are right. We will do this properly. No more making messes in our lives.”  
  
Pulling their hands toward her body, Andrea wrapped her other arm around Miranda’s waist so that their bodies were pressed tightly against the other. Letting her cheek slide against Miranda’s, the younger woman quietly told her, “I’ll tell Nigel to give you my cell number.” Drawing back slightly, Andrea kissed the spot just below Miranda’s ear. “It was good to see you again, Miranda.” Slipping way on sheer will power alone, Andrea pulled out of the embrace. “Call me.” When Miranda smiled, Andrea turned and walked out of the kitchen. Listening from where she was, she tracked Andrea’s progress as she bade farewell to Emily and Serena and then went into the bedroom with Nigel. After he walked her to the door, she knew that he’d be in the kitchen.  
  
“Finally.” Was all that he said as he came into the kitchen to pour them both another drink.  
  
 _ **—Fin.**_  
  
x


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